The person I am writing about is Sammy Sosa. As you may know, Sammy Sosa was one of the contenders in the home run race against Mark McGwire.
McGwire won with 70 home runs while Sammy Sosa lost with 66 home runs. Even though Sammy Sosa lost he is still a very skilled player. In my report, I will describe Sammys life and career. I hope you enjoy it. Samuel Peralta Montero (Sammys birth name) was born in the county side of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic on Nov.
12 1968. You may be wondering why Sammys last name was Montero. Sammys father died when Sammy was only 6. The family had a lot of money when his father around. Unfortunately, one day his father got really sick, and started having bad migraines.
They took him to the doctor, and the doctor said, take him to the hospital in Santo Domingo, but Sammys father refused to go. A few days later he had a another attack, and one of his fellow workers took him to the hospital. He was doing better after his family took him to the hospital, but the doctor told them that he would die in a couple of days. His family took him home so he could die in his own home. After he died Sammys last name was changed to Sosa. That was his mothers maiden name.
Sammys family changed drastically after his Fathers death. They didnt have any money to buy food or clothes. So Sammy and his older brothers started to shine shoes, wash cars and beg for money. They didnt get much business so the moved to Santo Domingo. In a couple of years Sammys mother remarried to a man named Carlos Maria Peralta.Even after his mother got married they still continued to be poor. Sammys mother thought that Santo Domingo was to busy and had to many bad influences for the kids, so they moved to a town called San Pedro de Macoris.
San Pedro wasnt as busy as Santo Domingo, but it was busier than the county. It was Kind of in the middle of San Pedro and Santo Domingo. Sammy and his older brothers started to shine shoes again. There was one man that kept coming back again and again.
His name was Bill Chase. Bill owned a show company in San Pedro. Bill saw how smart and persistent Sammy and his brothers were so he gave them a job in one of his factories. Sammy and his brothers were bringing more money which meant more money for clothes and food.
One day, Sammy met Bills wife and she loved him and his brothers. When she would visit America she would bring back clothes, candy, and toys. Bill would always give Sammy stuff like toys and extra money. One day, Bill gave Sammy a present that changed Sammys life. He gave him a blue baseball glove when Sammy was 14, and that is when Sammy started playing baseball.
Sammy was never interested in base ball before he got the glove. He would go to his local park every day to practice with his glove. One day his brother, Louis, saw him play and took Sammy to see Hector Peguero. Hector Peguero ran a local amateur league. Their league was called the Nelson Rodriguez league. Sammy hit his first home run, and his first grand slam in this league.
Sammy played for a year in the league until a scout saw Sammy play and asked him to sign a contract for the Philadelphia Phillies. His mom had to sign it too. She felt like she was selling her own son, but she accepted. They went and celebrated later.
The team was going to pay Sammy $2500, but Sammys family only received $200. Unfortunately the team didnt want him after his physical. He was to skinny. He also tried out for the Yankees, but they didnt except him.
Sammy kept trying and, two years later Sammy attracted the attention of scouts for the Texas Rangers. The Rangers signed Sosa as a free agent in 1986. They offered him $3000, but he would only except $3500. In 1986, Sammy went to a training camp; he stayed until he was 16. He was in 1989. The training camp was in America, and Sammy couldnt speak any English.
some of Sammys friends didnt make it to the Minor league, so they moved to New York. Sammy and his friend Juan Gonzalez made it to the Minor league. Sammy shared an apartment with some friends, and he always ate at McDonalds. Sammy played in the minor leagues until he was 18. Most of the money that Sammy made in the Minor league was sent to his family. Sammy made it to the Major leagues when he was eighteen.
He played for the Texas Rangers. Sammy bought a house with some of his money. He still sent money to his family in San Pedro. In 1989 Sosa made his debut for the Rangers but was soon traded to the Chicago White Sox. He played his first full season with the White Sox in 1990.
He was struggling with the team with poor stats and was traded to the Chicago Cubs. Sammy got married to Sonia in the early 1990s. They had four kids over the years. The oldest daughters name is Keysha. The oldest sons name is Sammy Jr.The youngest daughters name is Kenia.
The youngest sons name Michael. Sosas first season for the Cubs was poor as well. He only played in 67 games and was on the disabled list twice for fractures of his right hand and left ankle. His skill was improving and in the 1994 season he batted a .300 average with 25 home runs and 70 runs batted in. In the 1995 season Sosa had 36 home runs and 34 steals.
He also went to the All-Star game in the same year. In 1997 the Cubs decided to sign a 4-year contract with Sosa since he was improving over the years with the team. In 1998 the home run race was taking shape. Unfortunately Sosa lost to Mark Mcgwire.
Sosa cheered up because the Major league Baseball Association named him the 1998 Roberto Clemente Man of the Year. In conclusion, Sammy Sosa is a great athlete, and is admired by all baseball fans. Sosa has no plans of retiring yet. If he does retire it would be really sad. If he does I hope he doesnt return, and turn out like Michael Jordan. Sammy Sosa continues to be successful, and will always be unless he gets really badly injured.
I hope learned more about Sammy Sosas life. I also hope you understand his life more if you didnt quite understand it.
